Capito: Court’s Ruling Is ‘Another Bump’ For Gas Pipeline

One of the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s biggest supporters says it will move forward despite another legal setback.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito says Congress made its intentions clear when it passed an agreement last month that required approval of all outstanding permits on the MVP project.

After the approval of both chambers of Congress, and the signature of President Joe Biden, though, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked construction on the pipeline this week.

Capito said the deal lawmakers reached last month, and the support of the White House, should reassure investors that the project will proceed.

“So hopefully, in the short term, this is another bump, and a very frustrating one,” she said, “but hopefully, that’s all it is, is a bump in the road.”

Environmental groups and landowners are concerned about how the project could affect waterways, soil erosion and endangered species, including the nearly extinct candy darter — a fish that lives in streams near the pipeline’s proposed path.